Seasons
by thelostpirate
Summary: Anna had grown up with Elsa. Elsa was like a sister she never had, so why did she find it hard to breath when Elsa was around?
1. First Sight

"No. Now stop asking me." My father's tone was growing more and more furious by the second but Hans wasn't deterred, in fact it only seemed to make him more determined.

"Come on dad, she's my friend, you let Henri bring his friends home over summer!" I peeked over the pages of my book and watched my youngest older brother struggling to keep up with our father's wide strides as he paced toward the kitchen.

"Well Henri wasn't friends with an Arandelle." I cringed at the icy tone and Hans huffed in frustration, of _all_ friends he could have chosen, he had to choose an Arandelle.

"What bloody difference would it make what her name is?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and swiftly receiving a sharp slap on the back of the head from mum.

"Watch your language Hans Westergaard!"

"Aw mum..." he grumbled miserably, rubbing the back of his head. "Can't she just stay for one night, please?" nobody could mistake the pleading in his tone and I saw dad's resolve waver for a second before he set his jaw firm again and shook his head.

"No." Hans' shoulders slumped and he collapsed miserably into a chair at the dining table.

"I see what she means now, nobody is willing to give her a chance just because of something as silly as a name." my disheartened brother heaved himself up out of the chair and slumped off towards the stairs.

"Harald.." only my dad and I heard mum's soft whisper, she gave her husband a beseeched look and nodded towards Hans, I watched my dad's argument disappear from his face and he heaved a heavy sigh.

"One night. And she's not sleeping in your room." He said loud enough for my brother to hear, his miserable expression was immediately replaced with a beaming smile and he punched the air triumphantly.

"Yes! Thanks dad, I'm gonna go tell Elsa!" he darted up the stairs cheering gleefully and I giggled from behind my book.

"One day I'm going to regret that decision." Dad muttered slouching back in his chair, I watched mum laugh softly and give his brown hair a kind ruffle.

"Don't be so pessimistic dear, they're just friends," dad grunted, clearly not sharing her view of things but my attention had already drifted somewhere else to our upcoming visitor.

I sat on my windowsill and watched the car pull up outside, Hans was the first one running excitedly round to grab the girl's arm and drag her towards the house leaving dad to close all the doors. The girl was a complete contrast to my lively brother bouncing around from excitement, she walked slowly and calmly hiding her face behind her unusual platinum hair. They disappeared inside and I heard mum greeting them from the kitchen, I turned my gaze back to the window and watched dad lock up the car and walked towards the house, he looked up at my window knowing I would be sitting watching and winked at me before walking from view. One good thing had come of my dad's dislike of having an Arandelle over and that was I didn't have to dress up nicely and go downstairs to greet her like I had with all the other guests.

I skipped dinner and stayed sprawled on my bed deeply engrossed in my book which I was close to finishing now, nobody had bothered me all day thanks to the commotion of having a visitor but I wasn't complaining, I preferred to be left alone sometimes. The boys had spent most of the day playing football outside only popping back inside to indulge in some of the many treats mum had cooked them to make a good impression.

A soft creak of a loose floorboard broke my concentration and I glanced up at my door to see an unfamiliar face peering back to me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for the toilet," she explained, her hair covering a part of her face.

"Next on the right," my eyes locked on the page and from my peripheral vision, I could see her nod but she didn't move away from my doorway.

"You're Hans's sister, Anna," she said softly, I could tell she was quite pleased with herself for remembering.

"Yes." I simply replied keeping my eyes focused on the paragraph hoping that she would take the hint and leave me to read.

"I'm Elsa, Elsa Arandelle," I heaved a heavy sigh and snapped my book close with a loud thud making the older girl jump slightly.

"Yes, I know." I didn't bother to hide the irritation in my voice and her brow furrowed into a frown.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said hastily, slipping out of the room and closing the door, immediately I felt the guilt creeping on and groaned miserably when I remembered whose room she would be sleeping in tonight, I scrambled off the bed and threw open the door.

"Wait," I called rushing out, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around nervously.

"How are you liking it in the Westergaard house?" It was a weak attempt at starting a conversation but it was all I had, her expression lightened and she even had a little smile on her face.

"it's wondeful. Everyone's so.. friendly." I frowned at the odd choice of word but shrugged away the questions it provoked.

"It gets pretty crazy sometimes, you're lucky you haven't been to my gran's yet," I thought fondly of our huge family gatherings that more often than not dissolved in complete chaos.

"It must be nice having a big family," I knew from what Hans told me, Elsa was the only child which could be pretty lonely.

"it was annoying at first but I'm used to it by now," the truth was I loved their hectic meals filled with gran barking orders and Hiccup letting loose his fireworks.

"It's a lot different to what I'm used to," Elsa mumbled with a distant expression, I felt the sudden urge to hug her but quickly repressed it.

"I'll let you get back to your book. It looks like you were almost finished." She gave me a small smile and I gazed into her eyes for the first time, they were captivating colour of blue that seemed to shimmer in the light.

"Oh.. Yes I am," I couldn't tear my eyes from hers and even after she'd given me a nod and left, I was left standing in the hallway, stunned almost by the memory of those eyes. Now I was even more eager to join my brothers at Greycourt next year.


	2. Easter Kiss

The second chapter is up and some of you might have noticed that I took down this chapter. Well I had mixed feelings about it and my bipolar decided to kick in. But I hope you'll still enjoy this one. xoxo

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The first time Elsa kissed me happened on the same day when I was in a room that everyone in it wished I wasn't there. Including me.

I was twelve and Elsa was staying with us for Easter break. My mum had set us all to work as soon as we'd arrived and that meant that my brothers were off avoiding her, all twelve. She'd managed to catch me and told me to change the sheets in the guest bedroom, because Uncle Reggar and Aunt Adair were coming for dinner and planned to stay the night.

So, I barreled into the guest room, my arms full of linens, and stopped short when I saw Hans and Elsa sitting on the bed. His arms were wrapped around her, her hands were in his hair, and they were kissing.

I let out a sound of horror and something that sounded akin to, "Goodness, what the hell are you two doing?"

They both sprang apart at my exclamation. Hans let out a curse and Elsa looked like she'd just spent the whole day in the sauna. Her face redder the reddest hair of a Westergaard.

Jumping up, Hans ran towards me and started to push me out the door. "Get out, Anna."

"All right, all right," I said, as he shoved me out, rather forcefully, and then shut the door in my face. For several moments, I just stood there, dumbstruck, and then had the highly random thought that my mum was going to kill me because I hadn't changed the sheets.

Later that night, when all the adults had gone to bed, Elsa joined me and sat down on the spare bed in my room. She hugged her knees and looked at me. "Sorry. About that. Earlier, I mean."

I'd been avoiding her all day, as well as Hans. It was silent for a minute, a very long minute. I felt rather awkward then because Elsa was Hans' friend and it was the first time we had a real conversation since ages. Elsa and I barely talked to each other at school either. "I didn't know you two were dating," I replied. "You could at least tell me. Or he could" I said, feeling a little disappointed because if anything, I deserved to know that my closest brother had a girlfriend.

Elsa looked confused. "We aren't dating but I'm sorry anyways. I shouldn't have been so..secretive. I know you're close to Hans and I just don't want to ruin your relationship with your brother."

"It's okay, Elsa. I prefer him being with you than those skanky North girls at Greycourt." My eyes rolled at the thought of my brother dating one of those loud girls and have them over for summer.

"I would love to be your friend," Elsa said, unexpectedly, with a laugh. "Since Hans and I are friends and I barely have any other friends.."

"Okay," I agreed. Ever since the day Hans told us that he befriended an Arandelle  
>on one summer, we expected to see more of Elsa during school breaks. It was just that I've never really seen them as a thing. And the thing about Elsa not having any other friends, it was true if you didn't count the two other girls she hung out with. Her last name was really a curse.<p>

"Well, lately, I've just been feeling like there's something more between Hans and I so I don't want you to feel awkward. We can still be friends even if your brother and I date one day" Elsa stared at her socks thoughtfully. "And, well, I also thought it's about time I kissed someone."

At that, I looked up with interest. "What?"

"I wanted my first kiss to be with someone I cared about," Elsa explained. "And I figured your house would be more romantic of a setting than Greycourt. So, I decided that Hans was the one because I know him better than any other boys at Greycourt and Easter break would be the time to go for it."

At this point, I was laughing so much my sides were starting to hurt. "You mean to tell me that you basically wrote out a plan for your first kiss?" It stood to reason; I learnt that Elsa was nothing if not pragmatic.

"Well, yes." Elsa tucked her platinum lock behind her ear, looking slightly flabbergasted that I was even questioning it. "How can you leave something that important to chance? What if it had been a mistletoe situation gone awry? Or something equally terrible? I would not want THAT to be the story I told my grandchildren some day."

I sat up on the bed and looked over at her with a grin. "So, did it live up to your expectations? Was my brother story-worthy? Wait, actually don't answer that"

"Well, he is." She hugged her knees tighter, ignoring my disgusted face and, now, she got a far-a-away look in her eyes. It was horrifying to see because she was thinking of my brother but at the same time, I noticed how her eyes were filled with so much passion. I felt almost, something.."He was. Very much so." Then she cast me a cold look. "Until you barged in."

"Sorry about that. Why don't you steal away with him for a bit or somethin-", feeling guilty, I offered to make it up to her before Elsa laughed at me. Did I say something wrong? "Hey, I was joking." Elsa shuffled her legs and started moving them back and forth, her smile was critically wide. It was the first time I've seen a genuine smile on her face. It was nice to look at.

"I'm really sleepy, I should go to bed. See you tomorrow," Elsa got off the bed and headed to my side to plant a kiss on my cheek. "Goodnight."

I fell asleep that night thinking that perhaps my wish to have a sister was finally granted.


	3. Ball

The first I got into a fight with Elsa Arandelle was in my fourth year at Greycourt and all the students had just been told that there would be a ball open for fourth years and above. In an effort to make things a little more 'spiced up', the school decided that the girls would be asking the boys out, as opposed to the other way around.

The entire school was abuzz with excitement. Even the third years were getting in on the excitement, because they were convinced that some lonely girls would ask at least a few of them to the ball. For me, the situation just seemed dire all around.

My brothers were incredibly popular with the opposite sex. For as long as I could remember, random giggling girls would make excuses to talk to them in the dining hall or drop their books in their presence, which would force them to stop what they were doing and help them pick it up (my brothers, for all their flaws, are incredibly well mannered with girls because mum would kill them if they weren't). While Henri and Hans seemed to thrive under all the attentions and took it as their duties, Harlov was a lot more reserved and shy about it.

So, it was surprisingly (or maybe not) that Harlov was the first of them to get a real girlfriend. Two months ago, he asked a girl by name of Ariel, one of the Triton girls, and they'd been in a relationship ever since. She'd been around for the holidays one time, although she was never allowed to spend the night. (For some reason, my parents would always get an odd look on their faces when Harlov would ask them, in a huff, "WHY NOT?" And my father's response was always the same, "Because I was once a sixth year.")

Leading up to the dance, then, I was in a bit of a tight spot. Hans had fifteen girls ask him within the first day and he basically had to start writing down the names all the girls since he couldn't keep track. Of course, Ariel asked Harlov immediately, who agreed in an instant.

Knowing that they seemed to understand these situations a lot better than I did, I headed over to the table, where Hans was sitting with Harlov, eating lunch with him.

I plopped myself down and asked them for advice on how to go about getting my own date and they both looked at each other with confusion and asked me, rather politely, if I had a fever.

"No one is going to go out with you, Anna." Harlov buttered a piece of toast and then proceeded to stuff almost the whole thing in his mouth. "Noaffs deifnoafh farr vem."

"What?" I said feeling revolted.

"He said, 'not if they know what's good for them," Hans translated, as he took a bite of toast. "After all, you're our sister."

Blinking in a bit, i said in perplexed tone, "I don't understand. What does that got to do with anything?"

"They're afraid of us," Hans said, the pride in his voice evident. "Know that we'll beat the piss out of them if they look at you funny."

"I see," i said, a little slowly. My temper was starting to ride. And that meant that I was about to have one of those moments where I channeled my mother, much to my own chagrin. "Hans Bjarne Westergaard. Have you been scaring off boys from me? And YOU," I turned to Harlov, who was looking a little terrified. "YOU have no right to say anything! You're constantly snogging Ariel, sticking your hand up her shirt and who knows what else!" At his look of surprise, I said, "That's right, I've seen you. And just be grateful that little tidbit of info hasn't made its way to mum and dad."

Hans and Harlov exchanged a long look. Then finally Harlov said, "Er...excellent point, Anna. Why don't you ask... Kristoff! Hey, mate you're going to the ball with my sis," he threw a hand at Kristoff's back, the only Wendover boy who made it to the football team. Kristoff seemed a bit confused before he resumed chatting with Hercules, a sixth year football player.

Taken aback by the quick turnaround, I was immediately suspicious. "What?"

Hans jumped in. "Yes. I think that's an excellent suggestion." At my raised brow, he added, "Think about it. He's the only bloke you know that's not your relative. Besides, we trust him."

"That's not true," I muttered under by breath. "I know some Rubens boys." But it was true; none of the boys from the Rubens house had ever really become my good friends. I was much more friendly with girls.

Harlov fixed me with a stern look. "How well do you know these Rubens boys? What are their names? Do they happen to play in the football team?" Harlov gave a quick look at his teammates.

I rolled my eyes. "Cool it with the big brother routine."

"Well then it's pretty obvious, Anna. You are taking Kristoff to the dance," Hans drank down the rest of his orange juice and grinned at me. "He's not afraid with us. Well, maybe he is. Who knows right?"

Later that night, I thought about my brother's advice and arrived at the conclusion that it was probably the best situation I could hope for under the circumstances. So, the next day, made my way over to the Wendover manor and awkwardly tapped Kristoff on the shoulder once I found him napping on the hammock.

His surprised evident, he sat up straight and said, "Anna. Why are you here?"

"Can we.." I looked around the area where the boys were playing catch had gone completely silent when I'd approached him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Immediately, he stood up. "Of course."

With my cheeks burning from the attention given, he led me into the manor, feeling as though every pair of eyes were on us. I've never been to this particular house because I've never known anyone from Wendover too well, not even Kristoff. Besides, none of my twelve brothers was a Wendover. I couldn't recall what my two oldest brothers, Hagen and Hugo were in because I was far too young when they studied in Greycourt but the rest of my brothers were in Guilford except for Hilfred who was a Pitt and like me, Harlov was in Rubens.

When we'd finally made it into the drawing room, Kristoff ushered me in and closed the door.

He buried his hands in his pockets, and rested a foot against the wall behind him. Kristoff broke the silence. "What is it, Anna?"

"I was wondering if you would go to the ball with me?"

Kristoff paused for a minute and then he finally said, "No, I won't."

"Oh, good, I ..." Then, I realized what he said and I stopped. "Wait, what?"

"can't go to the ball with you," Kristoff said. "Sorry."

"Why? I mean, I know I'm not that much in the looks department but I'm sure I'll look decent enough at the thing."

"That's not it," he replied. Then he hesitated and added, "Well, truth is, I'm going with someone else."

I frowned. "Then why didn't you say anything to my brothers this morning when they practically announced to the whole school that you're coming to the ball with me?"

"Because she didn't ask me yet at that time-" Kristoff stared down at his shoes and then looked around the empty drawing room, "-I prefer going to the ball with her"

"Well, then," I began, feeling a little hurt by his words and irritated by whoever the girl was. "I guess I'm that revolting."

Kristoff's eyes were wide with disbelief, "Revolting? That's silly. I don't think you're revolting, it's just that, I'm a Wendover, Anna. No one really looks at us. Look around, this House is a joke. And now that I'm in the football team, a girl asked me to a ball and she's not just any girl. I don't mean that you're just any girl but she's-" he hesitated. "- well, she's the Elsa Arandelle..."

"What? Elsa asked you to the dance?" transfixed, I threw the question at Kristoff.

We were silent for a moment before I found my voice.

"Whew, Elsa huh? Can't compete with that one now can we?" I shook my head, knowing that Hans' bestfriend had ask Kristoff out and of course any boy would choose Elsa over me. Even I would choose Elsa over myself.

Wait, what?

"I'm sorry," Kristoff shrugged. My motions abrupt, I turned away from him and started to head out of the door.

I marched around the campus with no particular destination in my mind, head pounding from the encounter I just had with Kristoff. I couldn't believe that Elsa would do this to me. I meant, I knew Kristoff and I weren't dating or anything but wasn't there this unspoken rule where you couldn't steal someone's date when there was a ball going on in a week? And I mean, Elsa could have asked any guy in Greycourt and he would have said yes. "Anna? What brings you here?" a soft voice drifted beside me. It was Elsa.

Then it hit me, I was too upset, I didn't realize that I was walking by the field, where the girls lacrosse team usually had their night practices. "Actually, I want to have a word with you."

Elsa took off her goggles and gloves. Her hair tied into a ponytail. "I'm listening."

I stood still infront of the fifth year, my fingers were moving relentlessly, mentally forcing myself to speak. I'd never speak poorly to Elsa for as long as she had been friends with Hans, let alone argued but damn it, I bought a nice dress for the dance and she should've at least felt sorry for ruining my chance to slow dance with a boy for the first time. "I heard that you're going to the dance with Kris. True?"

"It spreads that fast huh?" Elsa wiped off the sweat trailing on her cheek.

"That's not the point. I know we're sort of friends since you're close to my brothers and all but don't you think it's a little too much when you.. steal my date?"

Elsa looked at me in utter disbelief. "Wait- what? I'm lost, Anna."

"Well, it's not that complicated to understand. You asked Kristoff to the dance when I already asked him to the dance. I didn't do it literally though, my brothers set us up-," I rolled my eyes, "-anyway, Kristoff didn't say no so I gue-" Elsa held her forehead and cut me before I could finish my sentence.

"Wait, Anna. Let me get this straight. Kristoff was supposed to go to the ball with you? But he decided to ditch you because I asked him?"

"Um... well yes."

Elsa looked at me with a frown, her expression clearly shown that she didn't know Kristoff was initially going to the ball with me. "I'm terribly sorry. He didn't tell me someone already asked him to the ball and - I'm just really sorry."

"Well.." I hesitated, ".. you can go with someone else. I mean you're, psh, you're Elsa. Any guy would be happy to go out with you." I exclaimed.

"Oh.. thank you."

Did Elsa just blushed?

As if Elsa just remembered something, she closed her eyes and sigh frustratedly. "But Kristoff and I, we already bought matching attire and Anna, I'm sorry but I can't just go out with another boy. We spent quite a lot of money on them."

For someone who was an Arandelle, Elsa sure was cheap.

Matching attire? "You two already bought matching attire? But it has been only a day."

"Hey, Elsa. Are you gonna practice or not?" a girl yelled from the other end of the field.

Hurriedly, Elsa put on her goggles and started wearing her gloves. She took the stick she abandoned on the grass earlier and jogged away, her face facing me. "Good luck Anna."

xxx

Later that week, I was in the library attempting to write a very long and boring essay on the Civil Wars for my History class, when one of the Pitt boys from my year came to my table. He sat down next to me and cleared his throat.

With more than a little irritation, I looked over at him and scowled. "What do you want, Naveen? I'm in the middle of something."

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go the ball with me," he said in a rush, looking about a bit nervously.

Taken aback, I dropped my pen. "What?" It took a second to recover, but then I did. "I… uh…. You do realize I'm supposed to ask you, right?"

"I know." He shifted in his seat a bit awkwardly. "But, you know, some guys are asking the girls, anyway, and I just thought…." His voice trailed off and he ran his fingers on his loosen tie, pulling at it uncomfortably.

"Naveen," I began, feeling more than a little confused, "you and I have had a grand total of maybe three conversations since we started at Greycourt. Why on earth do you want to go with me?"

"I…." His eyes darted towards the back of the library, where a group of fifth years were talking and joking with each other. I immediately made out the person he was looking at.

"Kristoff." My teeth gritted and I stood up, slamming the textbook shut in front of me. Stalking towards him, I said, "I cannot believe you did this! What is wrong with you?"

Kristoff attempted - and failed - he finally gave in. "What? Don't look at me, it was Elsa's idea."

He pointed at the table across us and all I could see was Elsa muttering under her breath, her eyes were looking everywhere but at me.

Taking in a deep breath, I looked around, a little wildly. My eyes landed on the first person I recognized. "Li Shang!"

Li Shang, Hans' teammate in the football team, looked up with a start. In fact, everyone in the library looked up, because my voice had carried and, as libraries are wont to be, the place had been pretty silent before my bellow.

"Yeah, Anna?" Li Shang had the customary calm expression on his face and I was glad he remembered my name. All those times I used to see my brothers' football practices with their team finally paid off. "What's going on?"

"Would you go to the ball with me?" My eyes were trained on his and I was biting my cheeks, hoping that he hadn't already said 'yes' to someone. It would be beyond humiliating, given that there were twenty students who were watching the entire conversation with abated breath.

Li Shang nodded. "Of course. Why not?"

"Great, that's settled, then." Turning to give a triumphant look towards Elsa's general direction. And, then, I couldn't stop myself from grinning victoriously. It was great to see the reaction on Elsa's face.

I spun on my heel and stalked away before Shang could change his mind.

xxx

At the end of the week, I took special care to get ready for the ball. The boys were required to wear tuxedos, but the girls had been given permission to wear any formal dress they wanted. Since I'm not a dress type of girl, let alone a formal dress kind of girl, I'd had, my bestfriend and roommate since first year, Belle, pick something out for me to wear. Delighted at the prospect of dressing me up as her personal doll, she'd spent hours pouring over catalogs until she finally found something and sent a detailed email to my mother with the order information.

One of the other things I'd inherited from my mother was her early development in the chest area and her very generous curves. While my cousin Rapunzel, at age seventeen, was still flat as pancakes, I had been wearing real bras since I was twelve. Normally, I hid my chest area under baggy jumpers and the many layers of my uniform (I was, after all, surrounded by about fifty male relatives of all ages and maturity levels a lot of the time), but Belle had decided it was time to 'let the puppies out' in her words.

So that's how I found myself wearing a sleeveless, shimmering green dress that floated down to my ankles. It was also very low cut and showed an amount of cleavage that I had never even seen myself, let alone shown to other people. I kept yanking at the tight bodice, trying to get it higher.

"Stop it," Belle hissed grabbing my hand for the umpteenth time. "It's silk. You'll tear it!"

I followed her out of the Rubens manor. "It's uncomfortable."

She didn't respond. Instead, she walked up to Adam, a sixth year she was taking to the ball, and said hello. I looked around for Li Shang and when I saw him walking towards me, I smiled.

Li Shang had his hair styled neatly and somehow I suddenly thought about that one summer he came over to my house with his hair longer than mine. It was weird.

He looked me over and said, with a smile, "You look wonderful, Anna. So different from how you usually look." His eyes lingered on my chest and I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, Shang. I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment." I wouldn't know Li Shang if it weren't for my brothers. In fact, I was fairly close to most of the football players (mostly because almost half of them were my own brothers) and by then I figured I was probably just like a sister to them. But Li Shang clearly didn't think of me in that way. "By the way," I added, with a falsely sweet smile, "my eyes are up here."

He tore his eyes away from my very generous chest area and looked at me with confusion. "I know that."

Shaking my head, I walked ahead of him towards the dining hall. "Forget it. Let's go."

After awhile, I forgot about my dress and actually started enjoying myself at the ball. It turned out that Li Shang was a fairly charming date and he also enjoyed my company, so I found myself being somehow charmed by the striker.

I was just standing around and waiting for Li Shang to come back with a drink when my brothers arrived and saw me. They both headed my way and my brother Henri said to me, "Anna, you appear to have forgotten half your dress! Allow me." The seventh year started to shrug out of his black suit and then Belle appeared at my side.

"No, she hasn't," Belle said, rather coolly. "That's the way the dress is."

Henri rolled his eyes. "I should have known you were behind this." With a scowl in my direction, "This is highly inappropriate. She's much too young to wear this kind of…. This kind of…." Words seemed to be failing him.

"Well, your mother is the one who sent it to her!" Belle answered, her blue eyes flashing with anger. "Clearly, she didn't think Anna was too young."

Harlov spoke for the first time. "Our mother?" Then he turned to Henri and said, "You reckon she showed it to Dad first?"

"Probably not," Henri answered, slowly. He was staring at Belle, whose cheeks were red with anger. Then, abruptly, he turned away and said to Harlov, "I need a drink."

Harlov followed after him, with a reminder, "The drinks are non-alcoholic, mate."

"Then help me spike them! Honestly, are you a Westergaard or not?"

I watched them both walk away, bickering, and then turned to my best friend with a smile. "Thanks. I didn't want to deal with them."

"It's all right." She gave me a stiff smile. "You look beautiful, Anna. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Even though I'd been rather against the dress in the beginning, I couldn't help but feel as beautiful as she was telling me I was. I walked towards the side of the stage, waiting for Li Shang to come with my drink before I noticed someone.

It was Elsa and she looked absolutely lovely. Her usual messy bun was gone and her platinum hair was tied into a French braid. Her pure blue dress accentuated the soft curves of her figure. The train of the dress trailed after her so elegantly that I wondered why she was alone?

"Anna! Hi!" Elsa waved her hand.

"Hey!" I waved back, marching towards the girl.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the library. I felt terrible." she explained.

We hadn't speak since the incident at the library but it was almost impossible for us to stay that way. She was a friend and I didn't want her visits to my house to be awkward because she was far more involved with my family than we all expected.

"It's okay," I said casually. "Um, where's Kristoff?"

Her wide smile turned into a sour brief. "Kristoff's feeling unwell. He was here for awhile but excused himself because he started feeling nauseous."

"That sucks. You're all dressed up and he's not even here."

"No, not really. I'm quite enjoying tonight. Where's Li Shang?"

"He's taking a drink for me."

Elsa gazed at somewhere in the direction that my back was facing and she tilted her head slightly in confusion. "What- what is it?" I turned around and there was Li Shang, pinning Mulan, an Austen girl my year, against the wall and my drink was nowhere to be seen.

"I ... I didn't not expect that to happen," I stared at the two.

"Uhm.. they always had been into each other." Elsa added and from where we stood, we could see Mulan's hands crawling on Li Shang's back.

I let out a long sigh. It wasn't like I imagined myself dating Li Shang after tonight but I could have at least danced with him. Then, I got the craziest idea.

"Let's dance," I looked at Elsa eagerly with the widest smile.

It took Elsa a few seconds to digest what I said before she stared at me oddly. "What? That's bizarre! We'll attract attention."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, it would be fun! Everyone here is busy with their own thing, they won't even notice. Plus, we're all dressed up and we're not going to just go home without dancing because of a couple of boys."

Elsa opened her mouth to speak but I was too excited to wait for what she had to say. So I pulled her hand and led her to an empty spot on the dance floor. "This is nonsense, Anna."

"Just, follow me," I secured her arms around my waist and Elsa unwillingly gave in.

After she rolled her eyes for the third time since I proposed the idea of us dancing together, I rested my hands on her shoulders, our feet moving in sync. "This is nice," I finally said, hoping that Elsa was enjoying herself.

"You're right, people don't care," she looked around at the other couples. They were far too content with each other to notice us. Suddenly, the band started playing Strangers In The Night.

We swayed our bodies to the song slowly, exchanging smiles and occasionally asked each other questions. Elsa told me about her upcoming game and I told her about my History essay. It was all casual and when the song stopped, we both decided to stop too.

And, so, the rest of the night passed by quite pleasantly and it was very late when Elsa and I made our way back to the Rubens manor, Elsa insisted on walking me. We were holding hands and laughing with each other, reminiscing about times from our childhood.

"Do you remember," I said to Elsa, with a giggle, as we stopped right in front of the entrance to my common room, "When Hans was convinced there was an elf in our chimney? And he made Dad go on the roof and take it out?"

"I remember." Elsa shook her head in bafflement. "I honestly don't understand what made him so... odd, when we were younger."

"Well," I replied, suddenly feeling disloyal to my brother, "Hans has eleven older brothers so you might want to consider all the things our brothers told him to turn him into that as a boy."

Elsa gave me a look and her lips tilted up in a slow smile. "What?"

She shrugged, her blue eyes wandering around the street across the manor. "Nothing."

"I thought I actually had a chance to kiss Li Shang tonight."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Why, do you like him?"

"Nah. I've never really kissed a boy and I thought tonight would be great for a first kiss."

"Wait" Elsa frowned, "You've never kissed? At all?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Apparently I found out that my brothers had been scaring off boys from me."

"Shocker," Elsa added sarcastically.

Suddenly she let out a small chuckle. "Don't laugh at me Elsa. I swear I'll push you into the pond if you don't stop."

"I'm sorry," she stopped, her cheeks terribly red.

"No, you're not sorry."

"No I'm not," Elsa managed to curve a mischievous grin.

"Are you and Kristoff, seeing each other? Because he seems like he's really into you."

Elsa shook her head. "We're friends."

"Yeah right, like how you and Hans are friends?" Out of the blue, the memory of my brother and Elsa making out in the guest room two years ago came back to my head.

"It was one time, Anna. We were very young."

Now it was my time to laugh at Elsa before I stopped when she managed to ask me this question, "Do you want me to kiss you?"

My laugh ceased. "Do I want to - what?"

"Kiss me, silly. I'm helping you out here. You've never kissed anyone and your date ditched you for another girl. Let's admit it, Li Shang was your one chance because no other boys dare stand near you for as long as your brothers are studying here."

"Wait, how does that relate to me kissing you?"

Elsa smiled softly, her hands made their ways to my shoulders. "For all I know, you might be a bad kisser. So, maybe, you can take this as a practice? Or a goodnight kiss? Like how you kiss a family or friend? Don't tell me you don't kiss even your own family."

Elsa was right. Whenever I was home for the holidays, mum and dad would kiss me goodnight, whether on the cheeks or lips. And let's not even start talking about my French cousins. They knew absolutely no boundaries when it came to kissing me or anyone. So, I guess, kissing Elsa would be like kissing Aunt Adair or something.

"Okay," I took my high heels off and tip toed on them. Even with these heels, I couldn't be as tall as Elsa.

"Close your eyes," Elsa ordered softly.

I protested. "but why?"

"You don't open your eyes when you kiss someone, Anna. It's weird."

I let out a long sigh and did as told. I leaned in, waiting for the kiss patiently but it didn't seem to come. I waited for a few moments, debating in my head whether or not I should've opened my eyes when suddenly, I felt soft lips resting against mine. They tasted like fruit punch and mint.

I held in my breath, eyes closed tightly until the kiss was over, my knees wobbling from standing on my toes for too long. And when I opened my eyes, all I could see was Elsa's crooked smile.

"Goodnight, Anna." Elsa breathed and marched towards the street, leaving me thinking if everyone in the Arandelle house kissed each other goodnight in that manner.


	4. Company At Winter I

Company at Winter I

The library was almost completed deserted as it always was around this time, most of the students were back in their Houses studying or sleeping but I preferred the quiet here. Today's visit wasn't as tranquil as most; I had an overdue essay for Chemistry the class I detested the most. I'd been putting it off ever since it was assigned and so naturally I was swamped. I tried reading through it all again hoping it would make more sense but obviously it didn't, I slumped onto the desk burying my head in my arms and tried to ignore the pounding headache I'd developed. _Come on Anna, you can do this,_ I told myself desperately and with a low growl I sat up straight and threw my attention back to the piles of scattered papers that held my class notes.

A couple of hours later I'd had enough, I successfully written a page of what seemed to be utter nonsense and I couldn't get any of the formulae to balance. I threw my head into my arms once again and whimpered helplessly.

"Stupid, stupid lesson…" I grumbled, banging my head against the desk to punctuate each word.

"Careful, I hear you lose brain cells every time you bump your head." A soft voice drifted over to me, I bolted upright – I knew that voice. Elsa Arandelle casually walked over to my messy desk and lowered herself into a chair. It seemed like she had lacrosse practice earlier today.

"It doesn't matter; even without the bumping I don't have the brain cells for chemistry." I grumbled, casting a miserable glance at my page and she laughed lightly. The palest shade of pink coloured her porcelain cheeks.

"Of course you do, if Henri pass it then you sure can." I laughed at this, I loved all twelve of my older brothers but Henri specifically wasn't known for his academic capabilities it had to be said. "Let me take a look." Elsa offered, taking my essay from in front of me and reading through it.

It wasn't unusual for her to be talking to me; she'd been Hans' best friend for four years now. Back then I'd never imagined a friendship between Elsa and anyone from my family would have been possible but Hans was the strong willed one of us and when he wanted something he usually never gave up until he got it. So when he came home one summer and told our parents he was friends with an Arandelle we all knew it was something we were going to have to get used to.

"Vanadium oxide," Elsa told me, handing back the piece of paper holding my messy handwriting. She must've seen the confused look on my face, "You wrote Vanadium pentoxide instead of oxide see?" she pointed to the text and I reread through it. Of course, how had I forgotten that? I scolded myself for my mistake and amended it.

"Thanks." I said gratefully, she nodded and looked at my smile.

"Much better," Elsa said sounding rather satisfied. "We can't have you sad now can we?" We were silent for a moment and I enjoyed the peace now that my headache was gone.

"I'll leave you to it, Hans wanted us to study together before he went to bed." She rose from the chair and left me alone in the corner of the library. With her presence gone it suddenly felt extremely lonely and I decided to get an early night, tomorrow was the last day of term and I would be on the ride home for winter break. I was gathering up my papers when someone came darting across the library and almost crashed into my table.

"Anna have you see Elsa?" Hans panted out of breath from the running.

"She just left to find you, why?" he collapsed into the same chair Elsa had occupied moments ago.

"Her parents are away for winter and she was planning on joining the winter camp for the holidays." He paused for breath.

"On her own…during the entire break? But that's awful, nobody should spend it there!" I exclaimed, horrified at the thought of someone I know joining the winter camp. Students who joined the camp were either orphans or had terrible parents.

"That's what I said, so I texted mum and dad asking if Elsa could stay with us."

"What did they say?" I managed to bundle the last of my things into my bag.

"They said it was fine, I was trying to find Elsa to tell her."

"She doesn't know you asked?" surely you should tell someone if you're making arrangements for them, Hans merely shrugged.

"I didn't want to get her hopes up or anything, you know dad's been a bit weird about Elsa being an Arandelle."

"Yeah but it's been four years Hans, and it's not like she's anything like her father is…"

"I know Anna but you know what dad's like."

"Mm…stubborn." I muttered, scowling that he still hadn't accepted Elsa.

"Oh so that's where you get that from." Hans grinned and nudged me playfully; I laughed and grabbed my bag.

"I'm not as bad as dad." I responded, pouting a little.

"Aw don't be mad Anna we all love you for it." He casually draped an arm around my shoulder and began leading me out of the library.

Hans walked me back to Rubens, a brownstone coed House northeast of the campus quad before disappearing in search of Elsa. Inside the common room I found Belle waiting for me on the sofa by the fire, the light from the flames colouring her brunette hair.

"Hey Belle." I said cheerfully, plopping down beside her with an exhausted sigh – all that chemistry work had tired me out.

"How did the essay go?" she asked with a kind smile, Belle knew my aversion to chemistry but anyone who'd been your partner for four years for the subject was bound to pick up on it.

"Ugh, it was bloody awful, thank goodness Elsa came along and helped me, I just couldn't get the equations right…" I trailed off feeling the same sense of frustration bubbling within me that I'd felt during my struggle with the essay.

"Elsa helped you?" she asked, tilting her head curiously as I tried to tug my shoes off.

"Yeah she came by the library; she must have noticed I was failing at the essay." When she didn't reply I looked over at her to find a peculiar expression on her face.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" I demanded, she shrugged and looked away with a smile playing on her lips.

"Belle Nicolas, don't make me fetch your father!" I said in a playfully authoritative tone, she giggled and threw a cushion at me. Belle had hated having a father as a professor here but over the years she'd adjusted to it.

"I'd love to stay and chat but I'm exhausted and my pillow is calling my name." she threw me a wave and hurried up the stairs to the rooms. There weren't many students left in the room now, a few were reviewing a last bit of homework and there was a couple cuddled up on the sofa kissing. I felt a pang of envy as I glanced over at them; I wanted someone to cuddle up to at night, someone who would stroke my hair from off my face…someone to kiss…_Get a grip Anna. _I gave myself a mental slap. I'd never been bothered about boyfriends before, what difference did it make now? I sighed heavily and trudged up to where my single bed was waiting for me.

* * *

><p>"Thank goodness that's over! If I ever hear a word about chemicals again it'll be too soon!" I sang happily as we broke free from our last chemistry lesson of the term. I pirouetted in the hallway and Belle jumped up and down excitedly.<p>

"No more silly equations, no more ridiculously …"

"No more professor Cruella!" I added to her list, we shrieked and hugged each other happily.

"You realise there's another term left right?" Elsa Arandelle was casually standing at the middle of the hallway, an amused smile played on her pink lips.

"Don't rain on my parade Elsa! I have two chemistry-free weeks ahead of me." I sang gleefully, spinning around again sending my hair flying through the air.

"You're more excited about that than you are about the break." Elsa mused, a strange look in her blue eyes.

"Oh crap it's our winter break, I completely forgot. I need to go pack ready for tomorrow, see you guys later!" I rushed off leaving Belle and Elsa talking – which wasn't something you saw often.

I practically ran towards the file of limousines and cars the next day, eager to go home and see my parents and brothers. I could barely contain my excitement as the assigned staff helped me with my luggage and began assigning students to their rides. Unable to sit still I found myself bouncing up and down in my seat and tapping my hands on my knees impatiently.

"Anna?" I hadn't even heard the door open, looking up I saw Harlov and his girlfriend Ariel coming inside the limo.

"I can't wait to get home, dad said he had gotten me something really special. I hope it's the silver parker buckshot" Harlov hardly took a breath as he spoke and the sentence came far too quickly, you could see him buzzing with excitement.

"I'm just looking forward to some peace and quiet; it gets so noisy at school sometimes." Ariel, the school captain, groaned rubbing her temples with her fingertips soothingly.

"Tell me about it." I whispered to her.

Harlov started telling a funny story about his football team. We were all still laughing when the door opened again and a familiar face appeared.

"Hiccup!"I squealed happily, advancing closer to hug my cousin.

"Space for three?" he asked, motioning behind him where Elsa and Hans stood.

"Of course." I hurried back to my seat out of their way and they bustled in with Ariel, Harlov and I. I found myself sandwiched between the window and a rather uncomfortable looking Elsa. The driver asked us to settle down and our ride began.

"You decided to come with us for the holidays then?" I asked Elsa quietly when everyone else had delved into conversation. We were pressed so close together that when she turned to answer me her face was mere centimetres from mine and I noticed the pale freckles on her cheeks for the first time.

"Yes," her blue eyes flickered to my lips, clearly noticing the close proximity. "Hans wouldn't take no for an answer." Elsa said. "That's.. that's lovely," those words made it out of my lips but it was obvious that we both could hear the strain in my voice and I could see her face tighten as if she was suddenly aware of my uneasiness. I was her best friends' sister – hell I might as well be her sister with how much time she and Hans spent together, and nobody wanted to be this critically awkward to their sister.

My thoughts were momentarily scattered by the feel of Elsa's cool breath washing over my skin and I saw she was still facing me. Suddenly Elsa frowned, had I done something? Said something I hadn't meant to? Then she carefully reached up and caught a strand of my hair between her slender fingers, studying it intently. I don't know why but I suddenly felt embarrassed, like she'd seen something she shouldn't have, some secret that was supposed to stay hidden. A small gasp fell from my lips and the piece of hair she was holding fell back to my shoulders. Her eyes lifted to mine and I could see the questions they held, Elsa knew something was wrong, she could see my blush.

"Sorry Anna, I didn't mean to embarrass you." Elsa said in little more than a whisper, then she smiled tightly and turned away. What had just happened? I'd never felt awkward around Elsa before and she never made me blush…but she also never touched my hair or sat so close to me. Well, we used to share the same room whenever she came to our house but I was fourteen the last time we did that and since then, we grew apart, busy living our own lives. And now, had things changed? In my confusion I could feel a headache drawing on and rested my forehead against the soothing cold glass of the window as the limo crept along its journey to the airport.

The flight was fine. I spent the whole flight watching reruns of The Voice when finally the flight landed and I practically rushed to the arrival station leaving my brothers behind, my eyes eagerly scanning the crowds until I spotted a familiar pair of glasses and brown hair.

"DAD!" I yelled, his head snapped round and he saw me through the crowds. Without hesitation I rushed through the masses of people and threw myself into his hug.

"Oh my little girl I missed you!" he smiled at me widely and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not little dad I'm almost sixteen." I reminded him; he chuckled and draped a heavy arm around my shoulders.

"Come on, your mother's been worried sick." Once mum had stopped hugging me and fussing over me it was Henri's turn to lift me off the floor in an embrace that didn't allow me to breathe.

"Ok Henri…can't…breathe…" I gasped.

"You're going to actually break one of her ribs these days." Helmuth's voice drifted over to us, Henri laughed and set me down to let his older brother plant a kiss on my forehead.

"One more year to go Bro, then its freedom!" Helmuth punctuated his point with a slap on Hans' back before noticing Elsa standing slightly behind.

"Hans, where have you been hiding I didn't even see you." As my brother exchanged hugs and punches on the arm, I watched my fathers eyes narrow at the sight of the daughter of an old enemy. Irritated I hit him in the stomach with my bag which winded him quite successfully.

"Blimey Anna what was that for?" he grumbled, clutching at his midsection.

"Would you stop scowling at Elsa, dad it's been four years, get a grip." I hissed under my breath, none of the others heard though they were too busy talking raucously about things that had happened over the year. Dad eyed me suspiciously before straightening back up and sighing.

"Well you certainly inherited your mothers temper." He muttered knowing I'd hear, I aimed another bag swing at him but he managed to dodge it.

"Come on, we don't want to hang around here all day." he called to the others as we set off to our ride.


	5. Company at Winter II

Many thanks to all reviewers and really hope you like the rest too!

Chapter Three - Company At Winter II

There was a soft knock at my door, I groaned and squinted at my clock – seven o'clock – who the heck was knocking at seven. I heaved myself out of bed, ignoring my reflection in the mirror on my wall, and opened the door. I was immediately shocked to see Elsa standing outside in a small blue top and a pair of shorts. I'd never seen her in such little clothing and for some reason I flushed, my cheeks went red and my skin burnt hot once my eyes made their ways down her toned stomach.

"Can I come in for a moment please?" she asked very quietly, I guessed she didn't want to wake the others, confused but equally curious I stepped aside to let Elsa in. I didn't really know what to do, we'd never been alone like this for a long time and the last time we did, I had my first kiss.

"Sorry if I woke you." She said softly, I shrugged and managed a small smile.

"Don't worry about it, is something wrong?" She'd never sought me out away from my brothers before and I started to worry that something was going on with Hans that I didn't know about. Was he in trouble?

"No, I just um…I wanted to give you something…you know, away from the others." She pointed to the door and I guessed she meant away from the family. Why would she want that?

"Oh…" she held out a small rectangular package wrapped in white paper and a silver ribbon. I took it gingerly and felt her eyes on me as I shyly tore off the wrapping. Inside was an old book with a tattered cover and faded illustrations.

"It's my old chemistry book, it has my notes in from the past years." She told me, seeing my confused expression. I opened the book to a random page and noticed scattered writing across each page, arrows indicating which equations or chemicals they corresponded to and even bullet points highlighting additional information not included in the book.

"Wow…" I gasped, turning the page and finding the next one just as rich with notes and helpful hints.

"I thought it might be useful…you know, if you have trouble with any essays and I'm not around to help." I felt a sudden overwhelming rush of affection for her.

"It's not much…" she mumbled, clearly a little embarrassed as she nervously scratched at her hair and kept her eyes low. Before I knew I was doing it I'd thrown myself across the room and was hugging her, I felt her arms wrap around me shyly and I realised it was the first time we'd ever really hugged. I was momentarily mesmerised by the scent coming off her skin but quickly let go worried she might feel uncomfortable.

"Thank you…for the book." I managed to say, rather awkwardly. She smiled a little and nodded.

"Oh I almost forgot." I rushed past her and opened a drawer, it was an advanced birthday present for her. I extracted a bulky blue one and handed it to Elsa.

"I know your birthday is in a month but I feel like you should have it now…" I began nervously; she unwrapped it and opened the box to reveal the thermos inside. "Hans mentioned you keep on saying that yours leaks…and I know you study a lot at night. I know this is probably nothing to you but I hope you like it…" I didn't know why I was blushing or why I felt so awkward, we'd given each other gifts before and this was no different. Her blue eyes met mine and I noticed an unusual look cloaked in them.

"Thanks Anna." It was strange hearing her say my name, it sounded different somehow. A floorboard creaked on the landing and we both looked to the door – someone else was up.

"I'd better go." She said quietly, looking at little dismayed.

"I'll see you at breakfast." I replied as she slipped through the door leaving me standing alone. With a sigh I sat on the edge of my bed and ran my hand over the cover of the chemistry book, it was an incredibly thoughtful gift and I was genuinely grateful because maybe now my grades wouldn't slip. I happened to look up and noticed my reflection in the mirror, a look of pure horror swept across my face at what I saw, my hair was sticking up in more places than I could count and I looked like I was dressed for Halloween.

"Oh bloody hell." I groaned and threw myself onto the bed, hiding my face in my pillow. Note to self, I thought, check hair before you open the door. How the heck had Elsa managed to keep a straight face while he'd been in here?

The holiday was great, we all crowded around the fire and mum made one of her amazing dinners – we all know she got her cooking skills from gran – and then everyone drifted off to do their own thing. Half of my brothers spent most of the day outside golfing with Dad so that Hans could test out his new Honma.

When night drew in mom and dad went off to bed early and Henri, Hiccup and Hans were across the drawing room. Every few minutes you'd hear one of them shriek and then they'd be in fits of laughter. Elsa and I stayed in the drawing room, she was writing an email to her parents and I was completely absorbed in a book Belle had sent me. When I couldn't get through a page without yawning I decided it was time to go to bed, I rose from the chair and stretched before setting my book on the table and noticing Elsa asleep on the sofa. I walked over and knelt beside her; carefully I reached over to the back of the sofa and pulled the blanket off, covering her up with it gently. It got cold down here when the fire went out. A piece of her hair had tumbled across her face and I reached up to gently brush it aside, her skin was smooth and cool, my hand lingered for a moment before I realised what I was doing and stood up.

"Night elsa." I whispered as I left the room. I poked my head into the game room where Hans and Henri were sitting on the pool table surrounded by cards and covered in soot.

"Elsa's asleep on the sofa, could you ask Kai to get her in bed later please Henri." I asked politely, they all looked like they were holding back laughter and Hiccup nodded vigorously. I rolled my eyes and set off to my room hearing them both burst out into hysterics.

I was restless that night and couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for hours I finally sighed and opened my eyes, they fell upon Elsa's chemistry book. I sat up and reached for it, moonlight was streaming through my window illuminating the faded cover; I opened it and smiled when the spine creaked a little from the motion. On the inside of the cover I saw she'd written her name no doubt to stop people stealing it, I traced the letters of her elegant script with my fingertip and watched curiously as the writing shimmered gold in the light. The clock caught my eye and I groaned, it was far too early for me to be sitting here awake, I needed some sleep.


	6. Company At Winter III

I rushed in and tripped bumping into Elsa who'd gone before me, she caught me and steadied me as I blushed an unforgiving shade of red.

"Sorry." I mumbled, she smiled and helped me out of the doorway.

"Anna!" Rapunzel's excited shriek was followed by her throwing herself at me and hugging me so tightly I was worried we might become fused together. "I thought you'd be here earlier, I've been staring at the driveway all day." She was oddly excited today I noticed.

"What took you two so long?" suddenly, Hans appeared from behind Rapunzel, his lips graced into a smile. Hans and Hiccup had arrived two days earlier at gran's.

"I didn't see you there Elsa, did you enjoy your stay while I was gone'?" he asked casually, smiling a little wider than usual. Elsa looked a little weirded with his sudden over-friendliness but smiled warmly.

"It was great, much better than if I'd stayed at Greycourt." Elsa glanced at me gratefully and I smiled, I didn't feel right receiving any thanks from her after all it'd been Hans who'd gotten her invited not me.

"Oh come with me, I have a present for you." Hans reached for her hand and tugged her off, I watched them go feeling slightly irritated though I wasn't sure why.

Henri came running inside the house followed by Harlov who collided with him. "You're supposed to look where you're going you idiot." Henri snapped angrily, throwing a well aimed shove at Harlov's shoulder which sent him toppling back to the ground.

"Yeah well if you moved instead of standing there like a dunce maybe I wouldn't have hit you." Harlov retorted, a fierce scowl on his face.

"Will you please stop arguing for five minutes." I demanded with a heavy sigh, they both eyed me like scolded children as they stood up.

"Where's Hans anyway?" Henri asked, casting a searching glance around the small room.

"He dragged Elsa upstairs I think, he wanted to give her a present or something." I told them, smoothing down my red hair. I noticed my brothers exchange a glance and frowned at them.

"What was that for?" I demanded and they both looked at me innocently.

"What?" they chimed, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"That look, what's going on?" I watched them exchange another glance and Henri sighed.

"Well the last few months Hans has been very…strange around Elsa" He said slowly, as though I might not understand.

"Strange?" I mused.

"And we think, well quite a few of our friends too, that he might have a bit of a thing for her" Harlov added, checking the two in question hadn't returned.

"You think he likes her?" I repeated not really sure I heard right. They both nodded and leant closer to me.

"You should see some of the looks he's been giving her, gazing at her with the creepy smile." Henri whispered, beside him Harlov was nodding vigorously.

"Yeah and always ruffling his hair and grinning like an idiot when she speaks to him, I almost threw up during our practice when he kept flirting with her." Their words made my whole body turn cold, Hans liked Elsa…but they didn't suit each other, they were so different. I meant, I knew that they've had a fling before but that didn't mean anything, at least on Hans' side. The thought of them together irritated me.

"What about Elsa, does she like him?" I found myself asking, my brothers looked at each other then shrugged in unison.

"Who knows, I mean they're really good friends but Elsa's an odd one."

"Yeah she's never really dated anyone so who knows what her taste is." It was true, since she'd been friends with Hans I'd never known Elsa to have a serious relationship with anyone, a few people at school had started gossiping saying cruel things about nobody being good enough for an Arandelle but I just assumed she'd never found anyone she was truly interested in. Maybe she did like Hans, he was good-looking having inherited Dad's eyes, and he was always top of everything again much like my dad had been. But despite that I still couldn't see them together, they were so different. Before I could ask my brothers any more questions on the matter the pair reappeared with Elsa hanging off Hans' arm.

"I'm going to go find Merida." I muttered before heading for the kitchen. Inside gran was busy cooking, mum was sitting at the table chatting to grandpa and my uncle Theo, and leaning against the wall casually was Eugene Fitzherbert.

"Eugene!" I shrieked happily, he noticed me and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Anna!" he scooped me off the floor hugging me heartily. Growing up Eugene had been like another brother to me but I saw less of him since he married Rapunzel.

"You get more beautiful every time I see you." He said touching my long hair, I smiled and heaved myself onto the counter next to where he was leaning.

"Now come on Anna, do you have a boyfriend yet?" the question startled me, nobody ever asked me that and much to my own surprise, the question attracted the attentions of my relatives. It was a very small house anyway.

"Um…no." I admitted, in fact I'd only really had one proper boyfriend – Guston, he asked me when I was in my fourth year right after the ball (I figured he had the courage to do so after seeing Shang taking me to the ball) and I'd liked him for months so obviously I said yes. The trouble was we had basically nothing in common and he wanted to spend all of our time together kissing, so needless to say we weren't together long. Then there was Ethan Dalloway, Rubens lacrosse team keeper, they held a huge Halloween ball every year and this year he asked me to go, he kissed me afterwards but we never started dating. The memory made me blush and Eugene chuckled.

"Well what's wrong with all the boys at Greycourt, letting a beautiful girl like you go around unclaimed." He laughed.

"Maybe I don't want to be 'claimed' I'm quite happy belonging to myself." I retorted rather haughtily, I hated the idea that a woman had to belong to a man, why couldn't the guy belong to her or they belong to each other?

"That's what they all say, but deep down they all want a guy to shower them with affection."

"Oh please." I scoffed. "The only time a man ever showers a woman with affection is when he's after sex."

"Anna!" my mother exclaimed, I shrugged and threw her an innocent look.

"What it's true!"

"Not every guy is like that." I hadn't noticed Hans and Elsa enter the room; Elsa was looking directly at me despite having Hans linked on her waist.

"Oh really, name one who isn't." I challenged.

"You're looking at one." Hans replied simply, I frowned at him curiously and my brothers appeared behind him.

"Speak for yourself Hans; I wouldn't mind a bit of female company at night." Henri said slapping him on the back before laughing with Harlov.

"Har please take your hormonal brother into the other room." mum instructed.

"Yeah some of us want to keep our appetites." Eugene added with a cheeky grin as Harlov steered Henri in the direction of the living room. My gaze was still held by Elsa as the back door swung open and Merida appeared, red faced and out of breath.

"Anna come see Hamish cycling, it's hilarious he's already fallen off three times." Uncle Fergus and Elinor's sons were almost eight now and their father had been teaching them how to cycle. Glad for the excuse to escape the odd atmosphere in the kitchen and the sight of Hans gazing at Elsa I hurried outside after her and joined my other cousins most of who were zooming around on bicycles.

After everyone else had arrived and the house was officially packed full of the ever expanding family we all bustled outside where a huge line of tables had been set up for dinner. I found a seat and tuned out the loud buzz of conversation around me, I loved being with my family I just wasn't feeling as cheerful today, maybe it was the lack of sleep.

"Mind if I sit here?" her voice startled me I jumped a little and hit my elbow on my chair.

"Ouch…no go ahead." I rubbed my elbow furiously and Elsa sat down beside me. I glanced up and noticed Hans a few seats down on the opposite side with an empty seat beside him, obviously hoping she'd sit there.

"Shouldn't you be sitting by Hans?" I asked trying to ignore the pang of bitterness in my voice.

"No, I'd like to sit here." She said simply, not even casting a glance at where Hans sat. I could feel her eyes on me but kept mine trained on the table as the food started to be carried out. The meal was particularly uncomfortable and I tried desperately to ignore any of Elsa's conversational advances, it wasn't that I didn't want to speak to her I just didn't want to hear her talking about Hans, I wasn't jealous of them I just felt uncomfortable about the idea of her dating my brother. I deliberately kept my distance from her at the table and tried to make sure our arms never brushed. Towards the end of the meal I was running out of things to occupy myself with to avoid talking to her and inevitably it happened.

"Are you looking forward to going back to Greycourt?" She asked politely, I was immediately relieved that the direction the conversation had taken was not related to her almost relationship.

"Um…yes but I'd much rather end this year as fast as I can. I'm getting tired of all the GCSE talk and all the pressure to start revising." The exams weren't until the final few weeks of the year but the teachers seemed determined that we should all revise well in advance.

"I'm dreading next year, the pressure for A-Levels is supposed to be twice as bad." She grimaced and I smiled sympathetically.

"At least you're done with school then, I have a whole other year after that." I pointed out dismally.

"It won't be that bad." She said, trying to comfort me.

"No it wont, it'll be worse especially with you, Hiccup and Hans gone." As soon as I said Hans' name my thoughts immediately returned to my earlier discomfort.

"At least you're done with school then, I have a whole other year after that." I pointed out dismally.

"Right shut up you lot, I have some news." It wasn't the first time I'd been grateful for Eugene interrupting. Everyone turned their attention to him and waited silently.

"My lovely wife and I would like you all to know that we're expecting our first child in about eight month's time!" his grin was huge as he gently laid a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder and the whole table erupted with excitement and congratulations.

"Oh Eugene this is wonderful!" Primrose's voice was heard above all the commotion as she rushed to hug the pair, closely followed by countless more huge and pats on the back and kisses for Rapunzel.

The commotion provided me with the ideal cover to slip into the kitchen unnoticed, I leant over the sink and sighed heavily glad for some quiet for a few moments. Out of the window I could see everyone hugging still and laughing happily but despite my joy for Eugene I just couldn't lift my mood. I didn't hear my mother come inside; she leant on the counter beside me and gently brushed back my hair.

"What is it Anna?" she asked softly with a worry in her voice only a mother would have.

"Nothing mom, I'm fine." I tried to lie.

"That's not what your face says." I mentally cursed my expression for forcing me to tell the truth. "Come on, sit down." She ushered me to the table and sat beside me.

"I think I just feel a bit lonely." I admitted sadly.

"Lonely, but honey you're surrounded by your family." I knew she was right but it just wasn't the same.

"I know but everyone seems to have someone, Harlov and Ariel are always together, Rapunzel has Eugene now, Merida's always with Hiccup and Henri. Elsa was always like me but now she has Hans so I'm the only one who's alone now."

"Elsa and Hans?" he asked with an eyebrow raised, I nodded sadly but kept looking at my hands. "Your father's going to love that." She muttered, we both laughed and for a moment I forgot I was feeling lonely.

"Listen Anna, I know what you're feeling I grew up with seven brothers who were always too busy doing boy things to let me join in."

"Maybe I just miss Belle" I concluded, thinking of my faraway best friend.

"We did invite her father but they had plans today." This was the first family meal Belle had missed and I decided that was the cause of my distress. I just felt lonely because she wasn't here.

"Thanks mum." I smiled gratefully and she kissed my forehead.

"Now lets get back outside before your father sends out a search party, you know what he's like." She rolled her eyes playfully and I followed her back to the garden.


	7. Back To Greycourt

Back To Greycourt

With the holidays over we found ourselves back on the flight after a lot of tearful goodbyes at the airport. I was exceedingly glad to be going back to school and even more glad to be back with Belle. We sat in the same row with Merida sharing our holidays stories when we were joined by Hans and Elsa. She was wearing one of her big sweaters and I couldn't help but to notice how pale her shoulders were.

"The trolley hasn't been down yet has it sis? I'm starving." I stared at my older brother in disbelief.

"Hans you ate six bacon and egg sandwiches this morning, how can you possibly still be hungry."

"I'm a growing lad Anna," He said proudly patting his stomach.

"I'm amazed you're not the size of a house by now with how much you eat." I retorted, he laughed and stretched into a more comfortable position with his hands behind his head.

"What can I say sis, I'm blessed with the ability to eat as much as I like with no consequence." I scowled at his smug expression.

"You don't consider looking like a pig every mealtime a consequence then?" the others in the row giggled and an unknown overwhelming feeling just rushed through me when I heard Elsa's soft giggle.

"You're just jealous." He mused; I squinted at him angrily and forced myself not to curse him.

"You are unbelievably like Henri sometimes." I muttered before turning my attention back to the window and trying to ignore the feel of a pair of blue eyes on me.

I was glad to get back into my dormitory and unpack my things from my luggage, it helped me settle back in and tried to take my mind off the fact that I'd been in a bad mood since the flight. Having double chemistry the next day wasn't helping that mood either.

I almost couldn't believe it when it was happening, for the first time in five years I didn't mess up during chemistry. The book Elsa had given me helped me to get the perfect colour of the salt and for the first time in my life I was named top of the class. As soon as the lesson was over I bolted from the room.

"Anna, wait up!" Belle called after me; I stopped and swiveled on the spot.

"I'll meet you in History I just need to speak to someone." I called to her before running off down the corridor. Elsa had Arts with Hans, I heard her mentioning it to Hans on the flight, and when I reached their classroom flushed and out of breath she was just packing up her things as most of the students left.

"Anna." She said sounding rather surprised to see me come stumbling into the room, a stack of books in her hand.

"I just had Chemistry." I stopped to catch my breath and held up her book. "I used your book and got top marks, it's the first time I've ever gotten top marks in that class." She grinned at me proudly, unveiling her white teeth and I couldn't help but smile back.

"You ran all the way down here to tell me that?" She titled her head and studied me curiously.

"Well…um…I just wanted to, you know, say thanks and that." I realised how silly it must look, me running through half the campus just to say thank you for a book.

"Glad I could help." We stood for a few moments in awkward silence. I noticed that she wore lipstick today and I could've guessed the reason why. Suddenly, I felt sick. "Can I walk you to your next class?" She offered kindly.

"Oh yes, thanks." I smiled and she came to where I was standing by the door.

"What do you have?" Her arm accidentally brushed against mine and the smell of her perfume lingered in the air.

"Biology." I told her cheerfully, I liked Maurice's class it was always light-hearted and therefore easy to learn in. We were about to set off when Hans came around the corner looking like he'd been walking very quickly.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere." He was clearly talking to Elsa and I felt a little uncomfortable. "Going to French?" He asked her finally reaching where we were standing.

"Actually I was taking Anna to Biology." She admitted and Hans realized I was there with them.

"Hey, Anna. Didn't see you there" he said in a surprised tone. "Do you insist on Elsa walking you though?" I didn't want to upset him so I just shrugged.

"No it's fine, I know the way. I'll see you guys at lunch." I turned on my heel and started down the corridor not looking at Elsa in case she looked hurt at my rejection.

"Anna wait…" she called after me but I kept walking and didn't look back. I heard Hans asking her to go with him and as soon as I was round the corner and they couldn't see me I started to run to Biology eager to be away from them.

Belle was waiting for me outside the classroom looking rather worried, her face lightened as she saw me sprinting along the corridor to her.

"Where have you been I was worried sick!" she scolded.

"Sorry I just had to tell someone something; I'm not late am I?" I peered into the glass door behind her and noticed only a few students inside, no I wasn't late.

"You've been very odd since you got back Ann." She eyed me suspiciously and I started to feel guilty, though for what I wasn't sure.

"Anna, Belle, will you be joining us today?" Maurice, or Professor Nikolas as we had to call him at school, was standing in the doorway waiting for us to enter. With an embarrassed smile to her father from Belle we joined the other students inside the classroom.

"It's going to be Valentine's Day soon." Belle reminded us brightly as we sat with Merida and Aurora in the Rubens dining room later that month.

"Don't say that, nothing more sickening than mushy couples kissing and telling each other how much they love each other." I grumbled.

"Oh I think it's a lovely day, letting people share their love." It was widely known that Belle was a bit of a sucker for love.

"That and making the rest of the world feel lonely." I pointed out bitterly. I'd gotten Valentine's cards before but never anything written from love, just silly boys with crushes on the famous Harald Westergaard's daughter.

"You're just jealous Anna because nobody loves you." Merida teased with her usual cheeky grin.

"Gee thanks, you know for a cousin you're awfully cruel." I hated to admit she was right but love was something I longed for. But then didn't every teenage girl?

"Aw you know I'm only joking. You have plenty of guys who like you."

"Why would I waste my time on someone with an adolescent crush?" I asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"And that, my lovely cousin, is exactly the reason you're single. You can't just date someone you love, how do you expect anyone to fall for you if you won't give them the time of day."

"You don't have to be dating someone for them to love you, look at mom and dad, he barely noticed her as more than a sister for years but he fell in love with her when they weren't together." Knowing she wasn't going to win the argument Merida just rolled her eyes and kept quiet.

"I was thinking of sending Phillip a card." Aurora admitted as her cheeks went a rather bright shade of pink.

"The Pitt boy?" Belle asked, clearly having trouble remembering who he was as he wasn't in our circle of friends.

"Yes he's the prefect right Aurora?" I asked her hopefully, she nodded and kept her eyes on the floor to hide her embarrassment. Phillip was nice enough though, he was one of the top few in our Chemistry lessons.

"I think Hans is planning something big for him and Elsa." Merida added casually, the words hit me like icy water and I started to feel nauseated.

"I didn't know they were seeing each other." Belle spluttered, clearly shocked.

"It's not official but he's been around her all over the break." The nausea started to build and suddenly the room felt too hot, I rose to my feet unsteadily and turned to leave.

"Anna, where are you going?" Belle asked, I could hear the worry in her voice.

"Just getting some air, I won't be long." I managed to tell them.

"Well don't be gone too long it's late and you know it's against the rules to wonder about the campus at night." I barely heard her over the throbbing in my ears, who knew a headache could come on this quickly. I stumbled through the door, desperate to get away from the conversation and prying eyes, I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Elsa walking down the street and I bumped straight into her.

"Oh sorry…" I spluttered as she steadied me, she smiled and I realised just how blue her eyes are.

"You're starting to make a habit of that." She chuckled, clearly meaning the amount of times I bump into her, and I managed a strained laugh. I realised then that she might be walking here at night for a reason.

"Oh you must be on your way to find Hans, sorry." I moved out of her way and started to walk off but her hand caught my arm and stopped me, I shivered under her cold touch.

"No I wasn't." She said simply, looking intently into my eyes. For a few moments we were silent, standing there on the street with her hand on my arm and her eyes holding mine with ease.

"How come you're out this late?" She asked, finally breaking the silence and releasing my arm. I cringed inwardly; I could hardly tell her that a conversation about her possible relationship with my brother had made me uncomfortable so I'd stormed out.

"Um, I just wanted some air." That wasn't a lie; I'd just omitted the reason.

"Oh, well would you like some company?" She offered, smiling again.

"Sure." I didn't know why but I felt much better since she informed me she wasn't looking for Hans. We started walking, in no particular direction and in silence.

"So how are your classes going?" the question seemed awkward and I guessed she just wanted to break the silence.

"Not too bad, Spanish is ridiculous though and I have a feeling I won't be retaking that next year, I can barely get through a lesson without feeling dumb." She laughed lightly and I could see her hair glimmering under the streetlight.

"I miss that subject. It was really fun." She admitted looking rather happy. "History had to be my worst though."

"Oh I'm terrible at that!" I agreed, feeling warmed that we had something in common.

"Its just professor Hats' teaching style, he doesn't teach he just…" she seemed to be looking for the right word.

"Drones." I offered it was the best word I could use to describe his dreadful monotone voice.

"Exactly." She agreed, snapping her fingers and throwing me another smile. She'd smiled a lot tonight, more than I was used to.

"Are your parents back from their trip?" I asked, breaking another silence.

"Yes they got back a few weeks ago, they were very grateful for your family letting me stay."

"It's not the first time you've stayed at ours and besides my mum loves having guests, she's a bit like my gran for that really, I think she likes having a full house." I noticed we'd turned yet another corner into a dimly lit street; it looked like we'd ventured towards the field.

"Do you often take walks around the campus at night or is this a one off?" She asked, hands resting behind her back.

"I usually do it when I have something on my mind, it helps clear my thoughts you know?" it felt rather odd to be admitting this to her but it didn't feel wrong.

"So what's on your mind to bring you walking tonight?" as soon as she asked me I wished I'd lied to her previous question.

"Valentines day." I said simply, it wasn't a lie after all it had been that which had sparked the topic of Hans and her dating. She stopped walking and I noticed she was looking at me with raised eyebrows. "What?" I asked defensively, stopping to face her.

"Don't tell me you're worried about not getting valentines cards." She said in a very disbelieving tone, a playful smile graced on her lips.

"No it's not that, it's just…I don't know, I guess I just always feel a bit lonely around this time of year." I felt a bit ashamed admitting this but I was pretty sure she would understand.

"I know what you mean, but you're young and beautiful surely you've got people vying for your affections." Her tone suggested it was more of a question than a statement but I ignored my curiosity towards it.

"Yes but I don't want some teenage fling that's going to last a month with some guy who's more attracted by who my family is and who's only interest is sitting around kissing." An image of my ex-boyfriend Guston flitted into my mind making me cringe. I sighed heavily and slumped against the cold brick wall.

"Well at least you have the option, boys are either terrified of me because of who my family is or they're attracted to the idea that I'm just as malicious and conniving as they're rumoured to be. Try finding a guy who can see past the surname Arandelle to find out I'm nothing like their reputation." I felt a surge of sympathy for her; both of us had family reputations causing us very different problems. I was revered and idolised because of what my family had done and I got sick of being treated like I was some kind of royalty when all I wanted was to be treated like everyone else, and Elsa was hated and feared because of who her family was and what they'd done but all she wanted was to be given the chance to prove she wasn't like that.

"I saw past the surname." I pointed out; she smiled at me and leant on the wall beside me, and I was greeted by the pleasant smell of her perfume.

"You did and you're one of the few people at Greycourt to treat me like it doesn't matter what my father did."

"Well you didn't care who my father was so why should I?" we exchanged a smile and fell silent.

"Hans doesn't care what your surname is." I said, trying not to sound glum.

"Yes and he's a good friend." My eyes met her steady gaze. I studied the golden fringes covering her temple and how some strands of her hair are sticking out to random places. Elsa was undoubtedly the prettiest girl in Greycourt, having to inherit her Nordic features from her mother.

"He wants to be more than a friend." I added quietly, unable to tear my eyes away and not really wanting to. I realised then that a small part of me was willing her to tell me that it didn't matter what Hans wanted because she didn't want to be more than friends, I wanted her to deny his affections. She opened her mouth to speak but a door nearby swung open and professor Cruella appeared.

"Ah I thought I heard voices." She exclaimed rather loudly.

"Sorry professor." Elsa replied politely, standing up from the wall.

"No bother but you two ought to be getting off to your houses, it's getting late and you know school policy about wandering around the campus after hours." Before either of us could reply she'd swept off down the road.

"I'll walk you back to the Rubens." Elsa offered all traces of her smile gone.

Belle was still awake when I got to our room, she was dragging a comb through her brunette hair and almost leapt off the bed when I entered.

"Anna you were gone for ages!" had it really been that long?

"Sorry, lost track of time." I mumbled as I changed into my pyjamas.

"So is it true then?" she asked eagerly, kneeling at the edge of her bed and staring at me expectantly.

"Is what true?" I asked clueless. She sighed impatiently and tossed down her comb.

"Are Hans and Elsa really seeing each other?" she was leaning so far forward I was worried she might fall off the bed.

"I'm not sure, she said they were just friends." I told her as I climbed into bed.

"That's not what the rumours are saying."

"Well rumours are usually just idle gossip; I thought you knew better than to listen to nonsense Belle" Even I could hear the tinge of anger in my tone, she pouted clearly stung by my remark and shuffled under her covers.

"What's wrong with your mood?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just tired, sorry." I hadn't meant to snap at her, she was only excited after all Elsa was her friend too and friends got excited when other friends got boyfriends.

"Best get some sleep; we have History first so we'll only end up dozing off if we're too tired." I groaned and yanked the duvet over my head.

"Fabulous." My voice was muffled by the covers but I heard her laugh and even with the lights out, all I could think of was my conversation with Elsa tonight.


	8. An Invitation

Many thanks again to all who reviewed and read my story! It is very inspiring to hear your feedbacks and I hope you'll like this chapter. x

Chapter Eight : An Invitation

How I survived History, or even the rest of my classes was a question I would never answer, after a rough night's sleep filled with nightmares of Elsa and Hans I fully expected to find myself with detention for dozing off but somehow I managed to get through it all awake.

"Are you even listening to me?" Belle's voice cut through my sleepy haze and I blinked at her blankly, ok so I may have gotten through it awake but apparently not alert.

"Hmm?" I mumbled drowsily, she sighed and rolled her eyes."I'll take that as a no then, blimey Anna why are you so tired?"

"I…" a huge yawn stopped my reply and prompted a scowl from my brunette best friend, "I just had a couple of bad dreams." I finally managed to finish, her expression was suddenly worried.

"What kind of bad dreams?"

"Oh nothing, just stupid stuff you know." She didn't look convinced and I stifled another yawn.

"You're not telling me something." She concluded looking rather upset, my heart gave a guilty little squeeze and I sighed.

"Oh Belle please don't look so sad, it's nothing important really." But of course she didn't care, friends never kept secrets from each other no matter how inconsequential, she pouted moodily and stepped up her pace leaving me lagging behind.

"Fine, don't tell me, it's not like I care anyway." She said throwing me a scowl over her shoulder, I hurried to catch up with her tripping slightly because of my fatigue.

"Belle wait," she didn't, so I grabbed her arm and yanked her to a stop.

"Ouch!" she grumbled and I promptly shoved her out of the crowded corridor and into an empty classroom. "Ok, ok stop manhandling me!" she complained batting me away.

"Look, if I tell you then you have to promise not to make a big deal out of it ok?" she frowned at me for a few seconds before nodding her agreement.

"Lately I've been feeling some things…for someone." I said slowly, her expression lit up excitedly and I cringed.

"Who is he?" she demanded eagerly, I sighed and sat on the edge of a nearby table.

"Well, it's not a he," my hands gripped the table tightly.

Belle raised an eyebrow, her smile crooked. "And?"

"It's nothing serious, I've just started to feel a bit…different around her, it's probably nothing anyway but I can't seem to get her out of my head." I rubbed my temples which were now throbbing from another growing headache and she sat down beside me.

"Elsa." She said softly, offering me a little smile when she saw my shocked expression.

"How…how did you…?" how could she have possibly known? She giggled and patted my arm.

"Just a lucky guess." She shrugged lightly and draped a comforting arm around me.

"Really it's nothing, I'm sure it'll pass." I assured her, trying more to convince myself.

"Ok well if you're sure."

"I am, I think I'm just feeling lonely, you know with Valentine's day coming…"

"You're not the only one." She sighed miserably and looked at her hands in her lap. Ever since her now ex-boyfriend Adam left for college, Belle had been slightly upset, even though we all knew they had to go on separate ways in the end.

"I think I just wanted someone to care for, to love, and Elsa was unfortunate to be the first person I saw." I wanted to believe what I was saying was true, I wanted that to be the cause of all the changes to my feelings because it was so much simpler than the truth.

"So you think it'll pass then?" she asked, giving me a rather sceptical look.

"Maybe…well probably yeah…" I didn't sound very convincing but then I'd always been a terrible liar, Belle shrugged and slid down off the desk.

"Right well I'm off to the library, I've still got those three essays to write for English."

"Ok," another huge yawn engulfed me and I dropped down from the desk clumsily.

"Do you want to come with me? To get some peace and quiet." She offered as we rejoined the flow of students rushing to enjoy the rest of the day now that classes were over.

"Um, no thanks, I'm going to run for a bit" She raised a surprised eyebrow but said nothing.

"See you back in room." I threw her a little wave and hurried off towards the track, none of the track & field team had booked it for practise today so I could go out there myself.

I threw down my bag and tie and grabbed the shorts and shirt from my bag, it wasn't late but already the sun was disappearing behind the horizon and dimming the light. I started sprinting and jogged laughing gleefully at the feel of the wind ripping my hair off my face, sometimes I loved to come down when it was empty and just jog for a few hours – it helped to clear my head and relax me.

I didn't know how long I'd been out sprinting and then walking around the track but as I stopped I noticed I had an audience, someone was leant against one of the bleachers watching me above, I drew closer to my audience and saw it was Elsa.

"How long have you been watching me?" I asked as I watched her walking down the stairs towards me.

"A while, you're good – probably better than me" I blushed slightly at the compliment but thankfully the darkness hid it from her notice.

"I doubt that but thanks."

"How come you've never tried out for the team?" I sighed and collapsed down onto the cold grass.

"I don't know, sport was always my brothers' thing really."

"This from the daughter of an ex-Olympian?" she remarked with a smirk lowering herself down beside me.

"I know, it's silly but everyone expected me to be on the team just like my mum and my brothers and I guess I just wanted to break the mould."

"Fair enough," she shrugged and leant back onto her elbows casually.

"What brings you down here?" I was clutching at straws to keep up some kind of conversation, since the winter break I'd found it a bit awkward talking to her in case I accidentally let slip something that I shouldn't.

"I was in the library and I noticed Belle, she said you were a bit stressed and had gone to do some running so I came to see if you're ok." I met her eyes and saw the strangest look in them that I couldn't decipher.

"Oh, well I'm fine, just a bit…stressed." I laughed nervously and tore my eyes away, she shifted a bit closer to me and my heart started thudding against my ribs.

"What's wrong, you know you can talk to me."

"Oh it's just all the pressure of the exams and the homework piling up." I lied, it was possibly the most convincing lie I'd ever told and it actually sounded true.

"Mm, it's going to hit me hard next year too, I've gotten so used to slacking a bit with my GCSE over but after this year the load starts again for A-Level"

"Are you worried, about what grades you'll get?" she considered this for a few moments before sighing and lying back on the grass.

"I'm terrified but if you tell any of your brothers or even Hiccup that I will have to end you." We both laughed and I lay down beside her staring up at the darkening sky.

"There's so much riding on them it's scary, I mean your whole future is drawn from what grades you get, I try not to think about it though because as soon as I do I start panicking and things just get a ton worse." She sighed again and folded her hands underneath her head.

"I'm sure you'll do great, you've always had amazing grades, Mer and Hiccup were always complaining wishing they were as smart as you." She glanced across at me and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"They actually said that?"

"Yep, but if you tell them I said that, I'm sorry but I'll have to get rid of you and your pretty face." I let out a nervous laugh as soon as I heard what I just said.

"Oh well I definitely don't want to die now so I'll forget you said anything." She flashed me a grin and I nodded, we turned to gaze back at the sky and I realized how much more relaxed I felt now.

"I wonder how long it'll be before someone comes looking for us." Elsa mused after a long silence.

"Probably not long." I grumbled not wanting the calm and quiet to end.

"It's so difficult to get time alone with anyone around here." My attention snapped back like the recoil of an elastic band and I turned to face her, her bold blue eyes had that same strange look in them as they had before. Did she mean what I thought she meant? Had she come down here because she wanted to be alone with me? The idea seemed utterly absurd and my rational brain quickly suppressed any hopeful thoughts that had been brewing. No of course she hadn't come to be alone with me, it was just a general comment, nothing more.

"Anna…"

"Elsa!" Hans' call cut off her sentence but the tender way in which she said my name was unmistakeable, we both sat up abruptly and turned to see my older brother striding towards us.

"Hi Hans, what's wrong?" She asked casually as we clambered back to our feet and brushed off the dirt and grass.

"I could use a little help with my History work." He said with a smile, I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, that was a lie – Hans had the highest History grade out of all of his friends. He just wanted to spend time with Elsa.

"You do? Don't you normally do better than I do?" Elsa replied with a rather confused expression, apparently she smelt a rat too, Hans' cheeks turned a colour that matched his hair and he straightened his tie nervously.

"Well…yes, but there's something I'm stuck on this time." He stuttered a little the way he always did when he was guilty and beside me Elsa sighed.

"Ok, I'll help." She sounded more miserable than she should but it didn't stop the delighted smile from lighting up his face, she turned me with an apologetic look and I smiled weakly.

"I'll see you later Anna"

"Yeah, I guess so." I mumbled dryly, I could feel a growing sense of anger toward my brother and I didn't like it, I loved Hans and we'd been almost inseparable as kids, it didn't feel right to have such animosity towards him.

"If you go walking later I know the Quad is quiet." She told me in an encouraging tone, I squinted at her suspiciously as she turned and walked away with Hans, it might have been my imagination but that sounded like an invitation. Deciding it was too dangerous to get my hopes up I just pushed it from my mind before grabbing my stuff off the floor and trudging back towards the campus.

The drawing room was next to empty when I got back so I collapsed into an armchair by the crackling fire and drew my knees up to my chest comfortingly. I soon found my thoughts drifting to a certain Arandelle and this time I didn't try to stop them.

Someone was shaking me, firm hands were gripping my upper arms and jerking me about but my mind was struggling to understand or respond.

"ANNA!" The voice was familiar but muffled and far away, I groaned and tried to listen harder to make it clearer.

"Stop shaking her, you'll hurt her."Belle, that was definitely Belle's voice, it had to be.

"What do you want me to do? You wouldn't let me throw water on her or beat her awake with a pillow so this is all I have left." And that was Merida but what did she mean by beat me awake? I was already awake, sitting by the fire.

"You could just call her name, there's no need for a physical approach." Wait, if I was already awake then why couldn't I see them? Now that I thought of it I couldn't see anything, just darkness.

"There is every need for it, she sleeps like she's in a coma, have you ever tried waking her up?"

"Well…a couple of times but never when she was this tired, she didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Anna, come on Anna you need to get up." Another shake, this one was enough to snap me out of my sleepy limbo and my eyes fluttered open drowsily.

"About bloody time." My cousin complained giving me another shove.

"All right I'm awake!" I shot back thrusting out my foot and kicking her sharply in the shin.

"Ouch! This is the thanks I get for helping you?" I rubbed my tired eyes to stop them drooping closed again every time I blinked and sat up straight, I was still in the armchair by the fire so I must've dozed off.

"How long was I asleep?" Belle and Merida exchanged a clueless glance and both of them shrugged.

"We don't know, we got back from the library just and noticed you." Belle told me with a sympathetic smile, I glanced at my watch and groaned.

"Ugh it's been three hours, I'll never get that History work done today."

"Lesson learnt eh Love, don't fall asleep when you have work." Mer told me giving me a hard slap on the back before heading upstairs.

"Come on Anna, you need to sleep." Belle kindly helped me up onto my shaky legs and supported me as I walked drowsily up to bed.

The problem with going to bed early was that I always woke up restless at some point and this time was no exception, it had barely gone midnight when I found myself tossing and turning unable to sleep and in the end I threw back the covers and huffed in frustration. All around me were the quiet snores and heavy breathing of my sleeping classmates and I felt a stab of envy shoot through my chest.

After several minutes of failed attempts at getting back to sleep I reluctantly sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed groping in the dark for my shoes. I slipped silently out of the room and downstairs tugging my red dressing gown around me to stop me shivering from the bitter air, a little walk around would relax me and help me sleep again so I set off down a random street listening to my shoes tapping on the asphalt.

I'd been walking for about ten minutes when I realized where I was, right ahead of me was the path leading to the Quad, for a split second my heart stopped before it took off again in a frantic sprint. Was it possible that she was here waiting for me? Could it have really been an invitation after all? I don't know what it was that made me keep walking, whether it was hope or curiosity that kept my feet moving I wasn't sure but either way I soon found myself at the Quad and with a jolt I realized I wasn't alone.

Sitting on the floor with her back to the wall was Elsa, her light blue dressing gown hanging open loosely from her shoulders opening the view for her beige pyjamas which I recognised from when she slept at my house, she noticed me hovering uncertainly at the other end of the Quad and rose quickly to her feet.

"Hi," she greeted with an awkward smile, I laughed anxiously and shoved my hands deep into my dressing gown pockets.

"Hey." It wasn't the most dynamic response I could have mustered but I was still too stunned to manage anything better, I couldn't believe she was actually here, it meant that she really had said it as an invitation. Despite my better instincts I could feel a glimmer of hope begin to build within me.

"I was beginning to think you might not come." She said quietly averting her eyes from my questioning gaze.

"How long have you been out here?" I suddenly felt guilty for leaving her waiting because I didn't believe she would be here, she shrugged nonchalantly and sat back down by the wall.

"A while, I wasn't sure what time you'd come so I got here with enough time." Ok now I felt really guilty, I hung my head shamefully and moved to sit beside her.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't sure you really meant to meet me so I didn't come."

"I didn't want to make it too obvious in case someone decided to interrupt again." I knew who she meant by that and cringed as I felt another flicker of irritation toward my brother. Then a sudden rush of guilt went through me. _Brother, brother, brother. _

"You can't really blame Hans, he just wants to spend more time with you." I tried to defend him knowing that if I wasn't so shy I probably would have done the exact same thing in his shoes, she sighed lightly and nodded.

"I know but I'm starting to feel like I hardly get to be around my other friends without him dragging me away." I winced at the word friends and she leant her head back letting it hit the stone wall with a soft thud. My little glimmer of hope darkened again as I realized she really just saw me as a friend.

"Do you come up here often then?" I asked looking around the curving open space, she followed my gaze and nodded.

"Lately I have been, I like to read here," she tugged a worn book out of her dressing gown pocket and showed it to me. "I'm not sure why but I find it more tranquil than the rest of the campus at night." I turned the book over in my hands and tried to read the title in the dim light.

"Jane Eyre?" I questioned, the title was unfamiliar to me but judging by the faded illustration it wasn't a modern book or even a textbook.

"It's an old book I found in an old shop, professor Truman recommended reading a few books to help with our Literature so I did."

"Hmm, so what's it about?" it was far too dark for me to be able to read the faint black summary on the back of the battered cover and I guessed Elsa used a torchlight to be able to read out here at night.

"Well essentially it's a love story but they're kept apart by various things until the end, ordinarily it's not my kind of book but I can't seem to put it down, this is the third time I've read it now." my eyebrows shot up and I stared at her incredulously.

"No way, you've read a love story three times?" even in the dark I noticed the colour in her pale cheeks deepen and she turned away, tucking her golden lock shyly.

"It's not just a love story, there's other stuff in it." I giggled at her embarrassment and laid the book back on her lap, she took it without meeting my gaze and slid it back into her pocket.

"It's so quiet up here." I mused listening to the perfect silence that had engulfed us, normally you could hear little noises throughout the campus during the night but here there was nothing but our shallow breathing.

"I know." She agreed glancing around the abandoned space, I drew my knees up to my chest to warm myself up a bit more.

"How are your classes going?"

"Um, pretty well I suppose, my chemistry grade has gone up loads thanks to you of course." I smiled at her gratefully and she gave me a satisfied grin.

"I'm glad, you should give Chemistry a chance Anna," she saw me pull a disgusted face and laughed, "I know it's dull at first glance but if you just look past that I really think you'd like it." I knew Chemistry was Elsa's favourite subject and despite my better judgement I knew that next time I had it I would follow her advice and try and enjoy it, just because she'd suggested it. I cringed at how silly that made me seem, hopelessly hooked on a girl so much so that I'd even try to like something I hated just because she liked it, how shallow of me.

"Hmm you're frowning, what's on your mind?" she asked gently studying the creases lining my forehead, immediately I smoothed them out and looked away.

"Nothing much, I'm just a bit tired."

"Oh well let me walk you back, you should get some sleep." I didn't really want to leave but honestly it was getting increasingly difficult to be so close to her and have to endure the torturous distance that was still between us, so I let her stand up and offer me her hand.

"Thanks." she pulled me to my feet and I stumbled slightly stepping clumsily towards her, the proximity to her body was intoxicating and in mere seconds it had already knocked me senseless. I gazed into her eyes riveted to the spot and felt every trace of logical thought slip from my mind, for a long while neither of us moved, we just stood silently staring into each other's eyes.

Light as a feather her fingertips softly touched the palm of my hand making my skin beneath them tingle with delight, without meaning to I stopped breathing, I looked down at my hand as her fingers crept a little further across my skin. Through the burning of my overheated skin her icy cool touch felt delicious, suddenly I thought of Hans and how hurt he would be if he could see us or worse – know how it made me felt, my breath which I'd been holding in came out in a panicked rush and I snatched back my hand sharply. Elsa took a stunned step backwards and I saw the pain of rejection flicker across her face before she pushed it away, my heart literally hurt to see it and my head was screaming at me telling me how stupid I was for pulling away when I wanted it so badly but I had to think about Hans.

"I'll walk you back." She said in an emotionless tone and I started to feel nauseous as I realized I may well have ruined even our friendship. I could already feel myself regretting my reaction but it was too late, I panicked and now I'd have to deal with the consequences of it, but that was little comfort to me as we walked in silence back to the brownstone house and Elsa left me standing alone with nothing but a nod as a farewell.

As I climbed the stairs back up to my room, I could feel the weight of what I'd done sinking in and tears flooded my eyes, I rarely cried but this time I felt like I needed it and so I let them spill over. I didn't expect anyone to be awake when I got back in but as I passed Belle's bed she whispered my name.

"Psst, Anna. Where have you been?" she hissed trying not to wake the others, I stepped out of my shoes and sat miserably on the edge of my bed.

"I was just walking." I worked to keep my voice steady though more tears were trickling down my cheeks, I didn't succeed in concealing my upset and Belle appeared beside me.

"Anna what's wrong, why are you crying?" her voice was thick with worry and I furiously wiped away the tears that had betrayed me.

"It's nothing really."

"Obviously it's something or else you wouldn't be upset."

"Please Belle, I don't want to talk about it right now." I begged, she sighed but nodded and I knew she'd let me talk about it when I was ready like the good friend she was. I hung my head sadly and she perched on the bed beside me wrapping a comforting arm around my shoulders and letting me lean against her for support.

When I woke I rolled over to find Belle zonked out beside me, I smiled affectionately at my best friend and made a mental note to remember to thank her for comforting me last night. In the light of a new day things didn't seem so bad, I'd gotten along without Elsa for plenty of time prior to now so there was absolutely no reason why I couldn't continue to do so, and even if my rejection had pushed her further into the arms of Hans at least they'd be happy. Well that was what I told myself all morning anyway, I repeated in my head over and over again hoping that eventually I would believe it.

She was missing when we went to the hall for lunch, Belle and I took our usual seats opposite Hiccup and Harlov who were eating eagerly as was the norm with them.

"So, what number of helpings are you on now?" Belle asked playfully as the boys scooped up more bacon and toast, the three started talking merrily but I heard nothing of their conversation. Elsa appeared in the doorway, and her eyes met mine immediately, inside my chest my heart took on a frantic rhythm and I felt sick with nerves, but she simply smiled and made her way to the table she usually sat on. A rush of relief swept through me and I realized I'd been holding my breath, though I was sure my action would have had some sort of repercussion I knew things wouldn't be awkward at least.


End file.
